NEW YORK, Oct. 21 /CSRwire/ - Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today announced Baltimore as its ninth Healthy Cities location and officially kicked off the program with a playground build at The Family Recovery Program. Working with the Maryland Food Bank, a network of local health providers and Baltimore City Public Schools, the program aims to provide up to 4,000 children and families in need with more than 250,000 healthy meals, 2,000 health screenings, sustained nutrition education programs and safe play spaces.

Over the past three years, Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities has worked to deliver integrated health, nutrition and play programming to children in need and their families in cities around the world.

“Through Healthy Cities Baltimore, we are proud to leverage and integrate the amazing work of local partners to support a child’s healthy start to life,” said Joan Steinberg, Global Head of Philanthropy, Morgan Stanley. “We’re excited to use the unique Healthy Cities platform to strengthen the network of nutrition, health and play services available to the children in Baltimore.”

Healthy Cities Baltimore will work with local and national nonprofits, including KaBOOM!, Feeding America, Total Healthcare, Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, MedStar Harbor Health Hospital, University of Maryland Extension and Baltimore City Public Schools, to integrate their respective programming and deliver it in a hub model for underserved Baltimore neighborhoods. The playground being built is designed from drawings by the children who will use it and will provide more than 200 kids from The Family Recovery Program a safe play area where they can grow and develop. Morgan Stanley employees will continue to play an integral role in implementing and sustaining the programming and will provide more than 2,000 hours of volunteer service.

“Having access to meat and fresh produce on a regular basis will be a lifeline for these families,” says Tim Regan, Vice President of Programs & Network Relations for the Maryland Food Bank. “Through the Healthy Cities program, we will be able to provide monthly bulk food distributions to each of these schools.”

About Morgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 43 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

About the Maryland Food Bank The Maryland Food Bank is a nonprofit hunger-relief organization, leading the movement to end hunger throughout Maryland. For more than 35 years, the Maryland Food Bank has partnered with communities across the state to distribute food to individuals and families in need. Through carefully-crafted programs, the food bank aims to meet the immediate needs of Marylanders while simultaneously working to find long term ways to reduce hunger statewide. Currently distributing more than 120,000 meals per day – nearly 44 million meals annually – the Maryland Food Bank will continue to expand its efforts until hunger ends. To learn more about the Maryland Food Bank, visit mdfoodbank.org.

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm and a market leader in investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. With more than 1,200 offices in 42 countries, the people of Morgan Stanley are dedicated to providing our clients the fi...